Amines generated by food spoilage (hereinafter, referred to as “biogenic amines”, or, simply, “amines”) in aquatic and meat products pose health risks such as allergic disease and food poisoning. Biogenic amines are produced by decarboxylation reaction of amino acid, and generate also during processing or storage of food. The amount of generated biogenic amine can thus be used as an index of freshness in food. For the prevention of allergic disease and food poisoning, and the reduction of food waste, there is a need for a method for sensing biogenic amine with high sensitivity and high selectivity.
Known biogenic amine sensing methods use analytical instruments such as gas chromatography and liquid chromatography devices. However, sensing methods using such analytical instruments take time because these methods require processing before measurement, and the devices need to be constantly monitored for adjustment. These add to the cost of the sensing methods using analytical instruments.
A method using a tetraphenylethene fluorescent compound is proposed as an easy and quick biogenic amine sensing method. This sensing method uses a solution of tetraphenylethene fluorescent compound. Dissolving a biogenic amine in the solution causes the tetraphenylethene fluorescent compound to react with the biogenic amine, and form an aggregate in the solution. The tetraphenylethene fluorescent compound produces only a weak fluorescence intensity by itself, but is known to produce a stronger fluorescence intensity upon forming an aggregate. An increased fluorescence intensity can be detected as an indication of biogenic amine generation. The detection result can then be determined as sensing of deterioration of freshness in food. However, the sensitivity to biogenic amine is still insufficient.